


A Dad For Christmas

by lucasashtons



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, also the malum isn't really major, and some angst but not too much, basically christmas fic hell yeah, but then again it's not completely minor, single dad ashton, toy store owner luke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-16
Updated: 2014-12-18
Packaged: 2018-02-25 14:16:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2624834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucasashtons/pseuds/lucasashtons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since the age of three all Ashton's daughter has wanted for Christmas was another father so her dad could be happy. Her Christmas wish comes in the form of a toy store owner that might just be what they were looking for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Christmas Party

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rocketshiptospace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rocketshiptospace/gifts).



> oh gosh I actually wrote a BTR fic with this exact idea and I had always wanted to re-write it and make it better. Eventually I got around to that and the result was actually the same idea but an entirely new fic. I'm planning for this story to be around five or six chapters but haven't really decided yet but it will be pretty short so

Ashton heard the same story every Christmas since the year his daughter Lilly turns three years old. It was the end of November, where the holiday season was really kicking in and Christmas music played wherever you went and Santa Claus would pop up on street corners asking for donations. It was also the time of year where the mall in their town would have their Santa Claus display set up right outside the toy store, where children could go and sit on Santa’s lap and tell him exactly what they wanted for Christmas.

 

Lily asked for the same thing every single year since she turned three years old. She would climb up onto Santa’s lap, give him a smile and reply, “I want a dad for Christmas.”

 

Ashton was used to the question, having heard it for years now. He loved his little girl to pieces and had always been very adamant on getting her everything she had ever wanted but this wasn’t exactly something he could just purchase and put under the Christmas tree for her to open. It was something that no matter how much he wanted to provide her with, he just couldn’t.

 

It wasn’t like he didn’t try: he would go out every now and then with his friends and maybe chat up a guy that he happened to meet but he never really could get into a committed relationship. They ended up turning into casual flings or just a one night thing while Lily spent the night at her grandmother’s house. Ashton wanted so badly to bring someone into Lily’s life that would stick around and really be there for her as much as he was, but no one was very interested in Ashton after he explained what was waiting back home.

 

He wished he was back in high school, back when he had met Lily’s mother. She was his best friend, someone that he really did imagine he could spend the rest of his life with. They became high school sweethearts, the kind of couple that their classmates would look at and just know that they would still be together at the high school reunion forty years later. They ended up married right out of high school, something Ashton should have known was a bad thing. Those types of marriages didn’t have a very high success rate but he truly believed that it would work out.

 

Lily came along about a year after they got married. Ashton was thrilled to be having a child with someone he really loved, and he really thought that she was too. It wasn’t until he showed up to the hospital, about three days after the birth, that the doctors told him that she was gone. They had taken her off bed rest and the minute she could leave she took off, leaving Lily behind in the nursery. Doctors told him that she had left without a single word, and Ashton was left wondering what could have possibly gone wrong.

 

He took Lily home, placed her in her crib and just couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that someone would want to abandon this little girl. He walked through the house they bought together and noticed that little things had disappeared, such as picture frames that she had hung up or little trinkets she brought home from her work. He then noticed that her side of the closet was completely empty and all of her things were basically missing.

 

She mailed him the divorce papers without a return address a couple weeks later, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’. He read the papers over almost a million times, trying to understand where they went wrong until eventually he just stopped searching for an answer and signed the papers, sending them to the lawyer’s address that had been provided.

 

When Lily turned two, Ashton noticed that he couldn’t really chat up women like he could back in high school, before he met his ex. Before they had met he had been considered the ladies’ man, everyone practically flocking him for a chance to be Ashton Irwin’s girlfriend. Now women just weren’t interested in him and he wasn’t sure if it was because of him or because of Lily. He hoped it wasn’t because of his little angel, because if he did end up bringing someone into his life, they would have to like her and want to be there for her or they were not going to be a part of his life.

 

It was around that time that Ashton had met Caleb.

 

Caleb was an actor, having moved to Sydney for a part in some movie that would be filming there for the next couple of months. He was handsome, with dark hair and olive skin and Ashton practically fell for him without even meaning to. They had met accidentally, when Ashton went for a walk around the park after getting off work and Caleb had finished filming a scene there. They sparked up a conversation about their love of nature when Caleb asked him out.

 

Ashton never really considered himself to be straight. He had always found himself more attracted to women, yes, but he would be lying if he didn’t say that he found men quite appealing as well. He had never really dated a man before, just a few attractions in high school but this was different. Caleb made him wonder what it would really be like to be in a relationship with a man, and he found himself in a wonderful relationship. He felt more alive with Caleb then he had ever felt, and Caleb was good around Lily. Ashton really thought that they would last.

 

It was when their relationship ended that Ashton decided that he was definitely more drawn to men than women. He had felt more like himself around Caleb than he ever had with his ex and he noticed that Caleb made him feel more loved then he had been the past few months. Ever since that Ashton had considered himself to be bi sexual, and once he had realized that he became a lot happier with himself.

 

It was really hard to find someone to be with in Sydney though. Ashton noticed early on that the other guy’s around him really didn’t want a long term thing. All they wanted was a one night hook up in the club bathroom or a person on the side when their current relationship lacked the sexual appeal it used to have. It discouraged him, for he felt like he was past the mark in his life where casual sex could satisfy him. He was a father now, a good one if you asked him, and he really wanted someone to help him out with that part of his life.

 

 

Around Lily’s third birthday, she began to ask about her mother. Ashton explained the situation to her, how her mother decided to leave them and that it was okay that she didn’t have a mother around because she had Ashton. When asked if she would ever have a mother again, Ashton replied truthfully, explaining his sexuality in terms that a little girl of three would understand.

 

All she had done was give him a cute little smile and said, “I just want you to be happy daddy.”

 

She had been pretty young when Caleb had come into their lives, not having understood what his role was in her father’s life. She asked about him once, over dinner one night, asking where ‘daddy’s boyfriend’ had gone, which left Ashton uncomfortable and he always changed the subject.

 

He didn’t want to tell her the reason just yet.

 

It was now a couple of weeks before Christmas, Ashton standing in line waiting patiently as Lily was practically bouncing up and down in excitement beside him. She had a tight grip on her father’s hand as she peeked around the people in line in front of them, wondering how far away they were from Santa Claus. Ashton took Lily to see him every single year, it having become a tradition for them. He wanted Lily to experience this.

 

The now seven year old tugged on her father’s hand, making him lean down to hear her talking. “Do you think Santa will finally bring me a daddy this year papa?” she asked, her hazel eyes twinkling with hope. It was getting more and more difficult every year to keep that happy face while she was wishing so hard for another parental figure. “Oh I just want one so badly! Don’t you too papa?”

 

She wasn’t exactly wrong there, it had been quite a while since Ashton had really gone on a date. “Of course sweetheart, but you have to make sure that Santa knows you have been an extra good girl this year and then maybe he’ll work some of his magic. We will just have to see if this year is the year your wish could come true.” It was the same line he used every single year when Lily asked him this. As was her wish, it was getting old and sad.

 

The kid in line before them finally hopped off of the jolly man’s lap, waving goodbye with a candy cane in hand before rejoining their parents. Lily ran ahead of Ashton had crawled up into Santa’s lap, smiling brightly. Ashton felt bad for the man who had to do this job, having random children sit on his lap all day long and tell him everything they wanted for Christmas, him replying that he would ‘do his best’ before moving onto the next child in line, repeating the line over and over again. It had to be exhausting.

 

As Lily babbled on and on about every single thing she had written on her Christmas list, Ashton looked around the Santa display this year. It was set up differently every year, either different colored lights or brand new elf costumes for the elves that worked the display as well. Ashton noticed the discomfort they had on their faces and wondered how awful those costumes were. You couldn’t pay Ashton enough money to want to that job.

 

As he observed the various elves around the scene, he paused on one certain elf and couldn’t hold back the laughter that erupted from his throat. His sudden burst made the elf turn around and the fake smile that was plastered on their face suddenly turned into a frown, a groan escaping their lips.

 

“I forgot you were bringing Lily here today,” the elf grumbled and Ashton just chuckled some more, walking over to him. “Go ahead, get the laughs out Irwin.”

 

“You look amazing in striped tights Michael,” Ashton giggled, adjusting the beanie he had placed on his head. “At least your red hair doesn’t look out of the ordinary with the costume. You really look like an extremely festive elf.” He flicked Michael’s cap, the bell at the end of the long hat chiming and Michael gave him a glare.

 

“Thanks Ash,” he grumbled, adjusting the hat on his head. “Get away from me, I need to be smiling and bringing Christmas cheer and you laughing at me is creating the complete opposite of that.”

 

Ashton had known Michael since they were in high school. They met after they had to work together for a school project, which led to a life-long friendship that Ashton was forever grateful for. He couldn’t have asked for a better friend than Michael, especially after all that happened. Michael had been there through all of it, even offering to help out every now and then. Ashton thought Michael would have been a great father for Lily, but he was already in a committed relationship with another kid that they had gone to school with. Calum was a great help as well, loving children and always finding something for Lily to do whenever he went over to his and Michael’s place.

 

“You still coming over tonight for the Christmas party?” Michael asked, sour mood dispersing for a little while. “Calum says it’s only going to be us and one of his friends from his high school. It should be fun and you can bring Lily if you want.”

 

Ashton looked over at Santa, noticing Lily hopping off of his lap with an unwrapped candy cane in her grasp. “Yeah, I’ll be there right after I make Lily some dinner.” He smiles and his little girl as she approaches them. “All ready to go Lily?”

 

She nodded, sucking on her candy cane. “Yup!” she smiled up at the elf. “Uncle Mikey I didn’t know you worked for Santa Claus!”

 

Michael chuckled and placed a finger to his lips. “It’s a secret, you can’t tell anyone okay Lily? I don’t want the other kids getting jealous that your uncle is so much cooler than all of their uncles alright?” He gave Ashton a wink.

 

“I promise I won’t tell anyone!” Lily assured him, hugging his leg before taking Ashton’s hand to lead them out of the mall. They waved goodbye to Michael and headed towards the parking lot, Lily still sucking on her candy cane as they drove home. They were about halfway to the house when Lily tapped on her father’s shoulder, making Ashton turn a bit to assure that Lily had got his attention. “Papa, do you really think Santa is going to grant my wish this year?”

 

Ashton bit his lip. “I wish I could tell you sweetheart, but I’m not Santa Claus. I can’t really tell you if your wish is going to come true this year or not. All you got to do is wish real hard and hope for the best.” He felt his heart clench as he recited the words he always did every year, the words getting a lot harder to say as Lily got older. One of these days he knew he would have to tell her the truth but right now he just wanted her to keep the hope that one day she would eventually get another father.

 

That night after dinner, Ashton and Lily headed over to Michael and Calum’s house for the Christmas party, which Ashton was grateful was just them and one other person. He wasn’t one for big holiday parties, where he had to mingle with complete strangers that really didn’t care for what he had to say or were only there to be neighborly and be merry.

 

As soon as they entered the house the aroma of sugar cookies wafted into his nose and before he knew it Lily was tearing off her coat and boots and darting off towards the kitchen, where Calum had taken out a pan of sugar cookies, ready to be frosted and decorated. His eyes lit up at the sight of the little girl, him putting down the pan and removing the oven mitts before scooping her up in his arms.

 

“Hey Lills!” he greeted her, giving her a hug. “How is my favorite little girl?”

 

“Wonderful Uncle Cal!” she chirped, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Can I help decorate the cookies?”

 

“Of course!” Calum told her, placing her back on the ground so she could sit down at the island in their kitchen. “That’s the whole reason I made them. We have to wait until they cool down though alright?” Lily nodded and Calum closed the oven door, giving Ashton a smile. “Hey, glad that you guys could make it, Michael is upstairs showering and Luke should be here any minute now. After that we will probably just eat cookies and play some games, maybe drink a bit.”

 

“Sounds perfect,” Ashton told him, sticking his finger into the bowl of icing and scooping some up, sticking his finger in his mouth with a grin. “You really need to teach me how to make this frosting Cal because it is fantastic.”

 

Calum chuckled and snatched the bowl away from Ashton. “Not actually my recipe, but I would be happy to direct you to the person who did teach me how to make it once he shows up.”

 

“You talking about me in there?” a deep voice came from the kitchen entrance and Ashton turned, finger still in his mouth towards the person and immediately pulled the finger out of his mouth in embarrassment.

 

The man standing in the doorway was _hot,_ his blonde haired stuffed into a beanie and legs that went for days clad in tight black pants that Ashton found himself staring at. There were holes in the knees, Ashton could see the man’s knee caps poking through slightly as he moved around in his spot. He had piercing blue eyes and a black lip ring that rested on his bottom lip and overall Ashton felt like he was going to melt.

 

“Ash thinks your frosting is amazing that’s all,” Calum explained, clapping a hand on Ashton’s shoulder and making Ashton jolt out of his thoughts. “Luke, this is Ashton, Michael’s high school friend. Ashton, this is Luke, my old high school friend.” Luke stepped forward, a hand out to shake and Ashton kind of just stared at it awkwardly. It wasn’t until Luke quirked an eyebrow that Ashton wanted to smack himself because _hello_ he was trying to be polite and introduce himself.

 

“Sorry,” Ashton blurted, shaking Luke’s hand. They were soft, incredibly soft and Ashton had to remove his hand from Luke’s before he found himself rubbing them with his thumb. “I’m just a little awkward around new people that’s all.”

 

Calum gave him a quizzical look. “Awkward? You? Last I checked you were Mister Confident Irwin.” He gave him a laugh before noticing the glare Ashton was shooting him and he cleared his throat. “I’m going to go see what Michael is doing and if he is done showering.” He quickly darts out of the kitchen and towards the stairs, leaving Ashton along with Luke and Lily.

 

Luke takes off his coat and places it on one of the hooks in the kitchen, adjusting the sleeves on his flannel. “It’s nice to meet you Ashton, Calum talks a lot about you to me.” He walks over to the empty seat at the island, where Lily is currently frosting on of the cookies. “What’s your name?” He asks her and Lily looks up at him, frosting all over her hands on cheeks.

 

“Lily,” she replies, her tone a little shy and she turns back to her cookie and continues to frost it with her fingers. Ashton chuckles before walking over to his daughter and picking her up from her chair, leading her over to the sink to wash her hands. “Papa I was frosting my cookie!”

 

“I know squirt,” Ashton said, washing all the frosting off her fingers. “You have to use a knife sweetheart, and since you are not allowed to use a knife I have to frost them for you.”

 

Lily pouted. “I want to decorate a cookie though!”

 

“And you will,” Ashton hands her a towel to dry her hands off before taking her back over to the chair and her cookie. “Just let me frost it and then you can put as many sprinkles and candies on it as your heart desires.” He takes a knife from the counter and spreads the icing evenly over the cookie. “There, isn’t that prettier?”

Lily shrugged and began dumping sprinkles all over the cookie and from beside her Ashton could see Luke giving her a fond smile. “She’s really adorable, how old is she?”

 

“Seven this last September,” Ashton told him, taking one of the cookies off of the tray and began to frost it for himself to decorate. “Want to help decorate these things? Can’t leave all the work to a seven year old after all.”

 

Luke grinned and grabbed a cookie from the pan and began to frost one of his own. Ashton caught him on multiple occasions glancing up at him from where he was frosting and he couldn’t stop the small smile that grew on his face every single time he caught those blue eyes observing him.

 

Michael and Calum eventually joined them, Michael’s bright red hair soaking wet from his shower still and he shook his head at all of them as soon as he entered the kitchen, squeals erupting from everyone in range that got hit with the water spraying from his hair. Calum smacked his boyfriend’s head before placing a kiss to his cheek and handing him a cookie.

 

“Get to frosting Clifford the Big Red Dog,” Calum joked, kissing his boyfriend’s cheek before heading back towards the cookie he was frosting. Michael groaned at the nickname as Ashton laughed, placing one of the cookies he decorated down in the container Calum got out for the cookies to seal them and keep them soft. As soon as all the cookies were frosted and placed in the containers they all gathered in the living room, ready for games and chatting. Ashton flung himself down on the couch, Lily crawling into his lip and cuddling up into her father as the others guys gathered in. Ashton found himself wanting Luke to sit by him, just wanting the boy’s presence closer to him.

 

“Mind if I sit by guys?” Luke asked and Ashton noticed it was mostly targeted towards Lily than him but he didn’t seem to care. Lily nodded enthusiastically as Luke sat by them and put his arm around the back of the couch and Ashton kept himself from screaming because _Luke technically put his arm around him._

“Since Lily is here I figured we should play some family friendly games,” Calum announced, placing Monopoly down on the carpet in front of them. “I understand that this game tends to tear friendships apart, need I remind you of summer 2010 and the ‘YOU LANDED IN JAIL’ debacle that occurred.” He tossed a glance at Michael who huffed.

 

“You landed in jail and you knew it Cal,” he grumbled before sliding towards his boyfriend and taking his game piece. “I’m not going to let you get away with that again.” He placed his piece on ‘Go’ before scooting over and letting Calum wrap his arms around him, snuggling against the couch and they waited for the others to pick their pieces and begin the game.

 

It had been great for the first two hours: Lily was having a lot of fun with her uncles and father, and Ashton was learning a lot about Luke in the entire process. One thing he learned was that Luke was a dirty cheater at Monopoly. Right now was a perfect example of that.

“That was _not_ eight places!” Ashton demanded as Luke landed on Boardwalk again, purchasing yet another hotel for the spot. “That was nine and you know it Hemmings you just wanted to buy another freaking hotel to scam more money out of us!”

 

Luke laughed. “Sucks to be you guys, but I’m not complaining.” He placed another hotel on the space before handing the dice over to Lily.

 

“Of course you’re not complaining,” Ashton grumbled as his daughter moved to the right spaces. “You see that? She is seven years old and _she_ at least knows how many spaces to move.” He high fives his daughter as she lands on free parking, taking the money that had been placed in the middle from when Michael had quit thirty minutes ago. “I’m proud of you for not being a dirty cheater Lily Rose.”

 

“Lily Rose?” Luke asked him, helping Lily organize her newly found money into her stash.

 

“It was my idea to name her that,” Ashton explained. “I’ve always wanted to name my first daughter Lily, and her middle name came from her mother’s name.” It grew silent after that and Ashton noticed Luke biting his lip. “It’s alright that you asked that, it’s no longer a tender subject.” He notices the look Luke has on his face and continues. “Really, it’s okay.” He shakes the dice in his hands and the mood changes when he rolls a double. “Ha! Look who managed to get out of jail!”

 

They ended up wrapping the game up about an hour later when Lily began complaining about being tired and with Michael and Calum already passed out beside the couch they all agreed it was about time they all went home. Ashton helped Lily put on her jacket and picked her up in his arms for her to rest in them, while Luke had gone into the kitchen to get his jacket. Ashton was opening the door, careful of the sleeping Lily, when Luke came rushing towards them with a cookie in his hand.

 

“Here,” he said, handing Ashton the cookie. “I’ll see you soon?”

 

Ashton quirked an eyebrow before looking down at the cookie, noticing a phone number iced onto it. He smiled up and Luke and nodded. “Yeah, I would really like that.” He said his goodbyes before putting Lily in the car, heading towards the driver’s seat. He stored Luke’s number in his phone and bit into the cookie with a smile on his face.

 

Maybe this would be the Christmas where everything would change.


	2. Luke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad you are all enjoying this story! I'm excited to write more of it as time goes along and hopefully the next update will come this weekend, but I am not promising anything. I have to work Black Friday and I might end up being far too exhausted to write something but we will have to see about that. :)
> 
> This chapter introduces you to Luke's side of the story and I really enjoyed writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it!

When Luke was younger, he had always been fascinated with his grandmother’s toy store that rested in downtown Sydney. It wasn’t too big or too small, just a perfect little shop where friendly people would stop by either on their way home or if they actually had something certain to shop for. Luke remembered the wonder in the eyes of the other little kids that came in with their parents when they saw the various toys the shop held, the same wonder that Luke held every single day he came to visit his grandmother.

 

The store wasn’t like every other toy store though, Luke had learned this when he was sixteen and his grandmother had become quite sick. He had been visiting her every single day after school while his parents ran the shop, insisting that she needed company in her final days. It was only a few short weeks until Christmas when his grandmother explained why the shop was so special and why she had refused every offer that came by to buy the shop from her.

 

“Lucas,” she had whispered to him, her eyes tracing his features as she spoke. “I want you to know that once I pass, when I pass, I want you to have the toy shop. You are the only one I trust enough to keep it, to keep the secret of it.” Her hand was frail and cold as she held his and Luke was amazed that his grandmother trusted him so much with something she truly loved. The shop meant everything to her and she only trusted him to run it? That was a lot for a sixteen year old.

 

“What secret grandma?” Luke asked her, running a thumb over her knuckles.

 

His grandmother took a deep breath, having in her sickness gained troubles with breathing properly. “You’ve already noticed that this toy store is unlike the others, correct?” Luke nodded and she continued. “I know this is quite hard to believe, you might think I’m lying to you, but Lucas, that toy store is magical. I truly believe that the store itself is magic, and I really hope that you can see it too.”

 

And he could. Long after she had passed away, when his parents decided that at the age of eighteen he was old enough to fully take on the responsibility of owning the shop, he stepped foot into the doors of the shop and understood what his grandmother was talking about. While most of the toys they sold were from name brands, such as Barbie and Hot Wheels, there were a few of them that Luke himself put upon himself to create. They were nothing special, just a few doll houses and rocking horses, but as he created them he felt the magic his grandmother talked about. The wonder as his imagination ran wild in the creations.

 

He saw the magic in the eyes of the little kids that came in when they saw them. Their imaginations ran wild as the kids would ramble to their parents of all the various scenarios they could create with the doll house or rocking horse. This is what Luke loved about owning the shop, seeing every child notice the magic he did as soon as they stepped into the doors.

 

His grandmother was right, the store was magical.

 

He came into the shop the morning after the Christmas party in a much better mood, and Calum could notice that when he came in later to work his shift at the store.

 

“You seem to be a lot happier,” Calum had commented after he had finished ringing up a little girl and her mother. Luke was currently re-stocking the shelves they had behind the register, making sure the display looked good and presentable for the public. After Calum said those words he noticed that he really hadn’t stopped smiling since he had come in that morning and he chuckled to himself. “You even laughed!”

 

“I laugh all the time Cal,” Luke told his friend, stepping off of the ladder and moving it to the back of the shop before coming back out and patting his friend on the shoulder. “Can a guy not be in a good mood on this beautiful December morning?” And yeah maybe he is teasing his best friend because he’s pretty sure Calum knows what has put him in such a good mood.

 

Luke wasn’t one for dating after his last relationship had ended. He had met his boyfriend, Josh, in high school and they had started dating a little after graduation. Luke was happy with Josh and Calum always told him that, always told him that Luke was happiest when Josh was mentioned or Josh was around. Luke noticed how much of a happier person he was when he was around his boyfriend and it made him glad that he managed to find someone that could make him feel this wonderful.

 

That was, until, a year ago when they ended their relationship. They had been dating for almost three years when Josh brought up the prospect of marriage and family. The very thing terrified Luke and he had shot down every idea Josh brought up about any of it. It lead to arguing and screaming into the late hours of night, Josh not understanding why Luke wasn’t ready for anything and Luke unsure how to explain why he was so hesitant.

 

Luke woke up one morning to a note from Josh stating that he couldn’t take it anymore.

 

Calum had been there for him afterwards, right from the moment Luke called him the next morning sobbing over the phone that Josh was gone. Calum had seen it coming, judging from the past months of nothing but fighting and that’s what hurt the most. Everyone else around him could see that their relationship was suffering except for him. He had been blinded by his own resistance that he couldn’t even tell that his relationship was drawing to a close.

 

When Calum brought up meeting Michael’s friend Ashton, Luke knew exactly what Calum was doing. Calum wasn’t one to push Luke into doing something he didn’t want to do, but ever since Josh left his best friend had been trying to get him to fall in love again, someone to make him as happy as Josh had made him in those three years. He didn’t mind what his friend was doing at the slightest. He was happy Calum was there for him during this and was just doing what he thought was best.

 

Until Calum brought up that Ashton had a _daughter._

Luke never had issues with children, he actually really loved them. He had smaller cousins that he got along with perfectly and he considered himself to be really good with children. His job involved him being around them all the time after all. He just didn’t view himself as a father, and he most definitely wasn’t ready to be one anytime soon. That was the very issue he had with Josh, the one thing that drove him away. So when Calum brought up that Ashton had a kid Luke wanted to smack his friend.

 

(“I’m not ready for that kind of role Calum,” he had told his friend when he had brought up the aspect of a date with Ashton. “I can’t be a father for that little girl and if that’s what Ashton is looking for I don’t want to break his heart.”

 

“Tell him that from the start then,” was Calum’s reply. “Tell him you are not quite ready to be a father yet. It’s not like he’s going to pop the question the minute you two meet anyway, he’s been down this road before with dating while having a kid. He knows how to be careful and if you don’t want to be a father right that minute then that’s alright.”

 

“Calum I’m not sure I want to be a father at all.”

 

“You’ll change your mind, trust me.”)

 

Luke found himself hoping that Calum was right. Maybe dating Ashton would open him up to the idea of actually having a child to call his own. He was still adamant on not having one at the moment, but Lily was an awfully sweet girl. Luke was just worried that in the end, if this relationship did go well and Ashton did want to continue to see him, he would end up not wanting to be a father still and break his heart. That was the very last thing Luke wanted.

 

The bell at the top of the door rang and Luke turned towards the entrance to see Ashton walking in, no little girl trailing behind him. His honey curls that Luke had constantly fought the urge to touch last night were hidden beneath a red beanie and he wore a plain black muscle shirt and some basketball shorts. His headphones were dangling around his neck and he had his phone in hand, probably to pause his music. He was sweaty and glistening and Luke was glad he was leaning against the counter because he was about to fall over.

 

“Hey Ash!” Luke welcomed the boy as he walked towards the counter, stuffing his phone into the pocket of his shorts. “What brings you here this fine morning? Did you just get done with a morning jog or something?” And wow he sounded like a complete idiot. He was going to smack himself later for that, yup.

 

Ashton laughed. “I just did, yeah. Lily is at my mother’s house for today while I do some Christmas shopping for her. Figured I would stop in here and see if Calum could recommend me anything.” He glanced over at Luke and gave him a dimply smile. “I also wanted to see if it was alright with you if we got lunch together? Granted if the store isn’t too busy come that time.”

 

Luke beamed. “I would love that Ashton, I’m sure the store will be perfectly fine at that time.” He could feel Calum burning a hole into his head with his sour glare but he couldn’t find himself to care. “Calum here has the shift then and would be happy to take over, wouldn’t you Cal?”

 

Calum noticeably gritted his teeth. “Of course, I’m perfectly okay with having my best friend run off to have a date with someone while I run the store all by myself on one of the busiest days of the year. That sounds perfect!” Luke could just tell Calum was already regretting setting him up with Ashton but Luke couldn’t bring himself to apologize for it. He was happy again, isn’t this what Calum wanted?

 

“Glad you are okay with it!” Ashton laughed. He leaned against the counter at Luke. “So, any recommendations for a seven year old who has just gotten over her princess phase?” Luke forced himself not to look at the sweat glistening on Ashton’s chest, where his shirt was giving a gap too and well, it had been a while since Luke had really done anything with anyone so right now he was biting his lip to stop himself from doing anything rash.

 

“Depends, what is she into now?” Luke asked him. “A lot of little girls at the age are getting into creativity and creating bracelets or art. Do you think she would like anything along those lines?”

 

“She, um, actually she’s been asking if she could have a guitar,” Ashton told him. “I can’t really afford to get her one though, I only have so much to spend on her for Christmas and a guitar would possibly be her only gift.” He looks down at his hands and Luke feels bad for him. Being a single father sounds tough, and he wonders what exactly the story behind Lily’s mother was and why she wasn’t around. Ashton never spoke of her at the party that night and Luke didn’t want to push him into it just yet. After all, they hadn’t even had their first date and that was definitely not something to bring up on the first date.

 

“We have some guitars over there if you want to look at them?” Luke suggested, moving from behind the counter and leading Ashton towards the guitars, where various styles were hidden behind a glass case. “They aren’t exactly name brand ones but they are perfectly sized for a girl her age and I can have you pay a pretty reasonable price for them.”

 

Ashton knows the guitars would be perfect but he can’t help but feel guilty that Luke was willing to bend the rules just for him to get one for his daughter. It didn’t feel right. “I can’t have you do that, plus I wouldn’t even be able to teach her how to play. I would have to pay for lessons as well and that is way too much of a hassle.”

 

“Nonsense,” Luke insisted. “I can give her lessons free of charge.” He noticed Ashton still hesitating and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Seriously Ash it’s not an issue. Part of my job is not only making toys and selling them, its bringing happiness into families when it’s obvious they need it.”

 

The sad smile that Ashton gives him almost breaks his heart but it’s suddenly masked by a light giggle and those beautiful dimples Luke had come to adore at the Christmas party the night before. He knows that there is a lot behind Ashton than just a single father with struggles, but he’s not going to dig into it. It’s none of his business, he knows that. If Ashton wants to let him in, he will on his own time and that’s perfectly alright with Luke.

 

“Thank you,” Ashton tells him, pointing to the small, purple guitar on the left of the case. “Lily’s favorite color is purple, she would fall in love with that one. Might I ask how much it is?” And suddenly he’s bright and cheery again, as if the sadness behind his expression was never there and Luke’s not sure if that breaks his heart more than the actual sadness.

 

“It’s about one hundred but I can sell it to you for sixty,” Luke tells him, unlocking the case and pulling the guitar out, handing it to Ashton. “If it makes your little girl smile that’s the most important thing. Don’t worry about paying me back for it either, let’s say that paying me back in you going to lunch with me today.” He ignores all of Ashton’s protests and he rings him up and hands him a case for the guitar.

 

“Luke, I can’t ask you to do that for me,” Ashton insists when Luke hands him the guitar case with the guitar already inside. “Seriously, you are being far too nice for someone that I’ve just met not even twenty four hours ago I cannot ask you to do this for me.” He goes to place the guitar back on the counter but Luke shakes his head.

 

“Just give me the sixty bucks Ash,” he laughs. “Like I said before, I want to see happiness and I believe that once Lily gets that guitar that’s exactly what she’s going to feel, alright?”

 

Ashton chuckles suddenly and Luke quirks an eyebrow. “Sorry, it’s just, you’re like an angel Luke. You far too kind for any human being and it’s just amazing to me that someone could have so much selflessness in them.” He pulls out his wallet and hands the sixty dollars to Luke with a smile. Their hands brush lightly and it makes Luke’s smile wider at the feelings. It wasn’t a spark, but warmth that ran through him at the light touch. I was calming to say the least.

 

“Just being a good human being is all,” Luke looks up at the clock and smiles. “Why don’t you head home and get showered? I’m not going to go out for lunch with someone that stinks of sweat and Australian heat.” He adds a wink to the end of his statement, just to assure Ashton that he’s joking but suddenly it feels more than that. He sees the blush crawling across Ashton’s face as he giggles and nods before waving goodbye, promising Luke to be back there in two hours.

 

Luke could hardly wait.

 

*

 

Ashton wished it snowed in Australia. Not that he doesn’t mind the heat, he actually appreciates the warmth and ocean, but he wishes that his daughter got to see snow as she grew up. She saw it on TV during the Christmas specials and kept asking Ashton when it was going to snow there in Sydney. One day he was going to have enough money to take the two of them to London and show her snow and he guaranteed it was going to be the best day of his life to see his daughter’s eyes light up at the sight of it.

 

He also wished for snow because he thought it be romantic for his date with Luke. Michael had called him cheesy when he brought up the cute scene playing in his head of walking with Luke, holding hands as it snowed around them.

 

“Basically you want to live the life of a romantic comedy,” Michael told him when he came over to watch Lily while Ashton went on his date. “Seriously Ashton that sounds ridiculous. Whatever the two of you end up doing is never going to be as cheesy as that. Plus it is just lunch it’s not like it’s going to be a long overnight thing, shouldn’t you save the rom com scenarios for one of those dates?”

 

He guessed Michael had a point there, but he couldn’t help but dream. He felt like Luke was possibly what he had been missing in life, despite the fact that he hadn’t known the boy for that long. Something about being around Luke gave him the feeling of warmth and happiness again. He hadn’t felt this way since Caleb, and it was nice to feel important and happy again.

 

He arrived back at the toy store dressed in his normal clothes, but maybe a bit more cleaned up than usual. His usual attire included shirts with holes cut into them and some torn up jeans but considering this was the first date he’s had in a while he wanted to make a better impression, which included a black button up and his new pair of skinnies. The thing that irritated him the most was he hadn’t gotten his new contacts in and was now stuck to wearing his glasses.

 

Luke looked up as the bell to the store rang again and felt his breath hitch in his throat once he caught sight of Ashton. The boy looked beautiful, bringing Luke to a loss of words at the sight of him. His eyes wandered Ashton’s body as he approached the counter and _oh holy shit those glasses made his eyes sparkle even more._

Ashton must not have noticed Luke’s loss of words because he had a wide smile on his face as he approached the counter. “Hey, ready to go to lunch?”

 

Luke opened his mouth to speak but ended up not finding words to say. He couldn’t believe he had been rendered speechless by the man in front of him and Ashton was now giggling at him. “Y-Yeah! Let me just, um, change my uh, clothes real quick! Yeah.” He tapped Calum’s shoulder, showing him that Ashton was there before he ran off towards the back room to change his clothes out of his uniform.

 

If that’s how he acted just at the sight of Ashton before the date how the hell was he going to get through an entire lunch with him? He never stopped nibbling on his lip ring that entire time he changed his clothes, putting on his Rolling Stones tee and his Lego man necklace that he made himself a couple of months ago. He wore it when he was nervous, something about it making him feel better about the situation.

 

When he finally came back to the counter Ashton and Calum were laughing about something and Ashton turned his head and caught sight of Luke, his smile turning his mouth into an ‘o’ shape. “You look amazing,” Ashton commented, giving Luke a genuine grin. “I found a place just down the road from here that we can go to, not really expensive but not exactly Macca’s either.” He slipped his hand into Luke’s and gave it a squeeze before waving back to Calum. “I’ll have him back in an hour and a half!”

 

Calum chuckles and waves back. “Keep him as long as you like Ash!” And now Calum was out of sight and here they were, hand in hand, heading towards the mystery destination. Luke found himself squeezing Ashton’s hand and Ashton gave him a squeeze back.

 

“Nervous?” Ashton asked him, referring to the squeeze. Luke just shrugged. “I’ll try not to make you too nervous, alright? Trust me, I’m freaking out as much as you right now so don’t feel like you are the only person here going out of your mind right now.” That made Luke feel a little better, but he was still freaking out on the inside. He felt another squeeze on his hand and took a deep breath before stepping into the restaurant with Ashton.


	3. Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates might be a little while considering I am a college student and it's nearing finals week, but I promise you that this story should be completed by Christmas. Like I said, this story won't be that long, I'm thinking there is about two or three chapters left.
> 
> Enjoy!

The restaurant was just a little ways down the road, nestled in between two little shops that carried antiques and beach gear. It was an odd spot for a small restaurant to be in downtown, but Luke was grateful that it was so close to his work that he and Ashton could walk there together, hand in hand. It left time for them to talk to each other on the way there, something that Luke appreciated.

 

The conversations they had were easy; flirtatious teasing over little things such as interests and various other things they were into. Luke found himself falling into a comfortable rhythm with Ashton, almost like it was meant to be like this. It no longer felt like he had just met him the night before at a Christmas party. He felt calm and comfortable around someone again, something he had only felt with Calum for the longest time.

 

They had just ordered their food when Ashton reached forward and grabbed Luke’s hand, a gentle squeeze. “Is this alright?”

 

Luke nodded, giving a squeeze back. “It’s perfect, thank you.” They find themselves falling into an awkward silence, something Luke wasn’t used to. They had been talking non-stop since they had left the toy store and now it was as if there was nothing left to talk about. While there were questions swirling around Luke’s mind, he wasn’t even sure if any of them were appropriate for a first date. It had been so long since he’d been on a date that he wasn’t sure what the proper etiquette even was anymore.

 

He almost sighed with relief when Ashton started talking. “I guess you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but I’m curious: what made you decide that you were into men as well as women?”

 

Luke pondered that for a minute, having never really thought about it. “I guess one day I just noticed that hey, some men are very appealing to me. As for an attraction to women, I guess I noticed that women are also very beautiful.”

 

“Do you prefer one over the other?”

 

This made him think once again. “Well, I’ve never really had a girlfriend? I’ve only dated one person my entire life, which sounds incredibly lame but it’s true. His name was Josh, he was practically my best friend in high school. I think he was the one that really cemented me into knowing that I was into guys as well as girls.”

 

Ashton nodded at this, even humming a little as if he was processing what Luke had said. It was about to go back to awkward silence when Luke decided to chime in. “What about you? Obviously you were with a woman before, what made you want to pursue men?”

 

“Around the time Lily was two, I met a man that made me feel things I hadn’t felt in forever,” Ashton explained, taking a sip of the soda he had ordered. “I was confused at first, having feelings towards a man that I thought I only had towards women, but eventually I enjoyed the way he made me feel. He wasn’t around for very long, but the time we spent together made me realize that I preferred being in a relationship with another man compared to a woman.”

 

Luke felt his mind screaming at him to ask about Lily’s mother, but he knew that it was far too soon. While he really wanted to know exactly the situation with her had been and why she wasn’t around, he didn’t know if Ashton was comfortable speaking about it yet, let alone tell someone on the first date about it. So instead he changed the subject, starting asking about Lily and what she was like.

 

Watching Ashton’s face light up while he talked about Lily was something Luke couldn’t help but admire. The large smile that grew across his face as he talked about something she did at school one day was something Luke knew couldn’t be described as anything but true love for his little girl. The food eventually showed up, but Luke couldn’t even care about his grumbling stomach anymore as he watched a very animated Ashton talk about his daughter.

 

Eventually, Luke asked, “The man you said you were with before, did he ever meet Lily?”

 

He regretted the words the instant they left his mouth. Ashton’s smile dropped from his face slowly as he pursed his lips, as if he was completely unsure if he wanted to talk about it. Luke could draw his own conclusions from Ashton’s expression: the relationship didn’t end well, and it was possibly because of Lily.

 

“You don’t have to answer…”

 

“No,” Ashton finally said, looking Luke in the eye. “He, uh, wasn’t in town for very long, that was one of the main reasons our relationship didn’t last long. I had been too excited about being with him that I rushed things, including him meeting my daughter after two months together. He was only here for his job, and the minute his job as finished here he broke up with me, stating that his job was done and I was only a fling.” He could see Ashton’s hurt expression and reached across the table to squeeze the boy’s hand again. Ashton gave him a soft smile in return and continued. “He met Lily before he left, when I thought that he was actually going to stay in town, or at least think about the possibility of a long distance relationship. Two weeks after meeting Lily, he told me that he couldn’t be what I wanted and left without a second glance.”

 

Luke felt absolutely horrible. “He….He didn’t stick around because of Lily?” Ashton nodded sadly, picking up his burger and biting into it. “He must have known that he had to meet her eventually right? That your relationship would have led to that moment sooner or later.” He felt himself growing angry, despite his own feelings about children. While yes, he was still very unsure on if he wanted to be that person in Lily’s life, it angered him that someone handled Ashton’s feelings in such a way.

 

He noticed Ashton’s uncomfortable look and suddenly it clicked. “You didn’t tell him about her, did you?”

 

“Not in the beginning?” Ashton confessed, putting his burger down. “After a month of dating I told him that I had a daughter and he said he was alright with it. Surprised, but he was okay. He got along with Lily great after they met, and I really had hoped that he could have been the one.” He sighed. “He left two weeks after meeting her and proved me wrong. After that I was pretty hesitant on letting people into my life, mainly because it didn’t just hurt me when Caleb left, it hurt Lily. She saw how happy Caleb made me and….” He stopped. “Never mind, sorry for loading all of this onto you.”

 

Luke didn’t respond, instead just grabbing Ashton’s hand again and stroking his thumbs over his knuckles. “It’s okay, I want you to be open with me Ashton. I want you to know that I’m here, I’m listening to you. I’m not going to judge you for anything. All I ask for in return is that I can be open with you and you promise that you won’t leave.”

 

Ashton smiles at Luke’s touch and gives his hand another squeeze. It seemed to be their thing, a gentle squeeze on the other’s hand. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” He releases his hand from Luke’s and goes back to eating, swallowing down his burger before asking, “What about your ex? What made you guys drift apart?”

 

Luke froze, knowing he couldn’t tell Ashton the truth. He had just gotten done telling Ashton he was going to be better than Caleb, wouldn’t leave because of the fact Ashton was a father. How was he supposed to tell him that the reason his ex-boyfriend left him because he wasn’t ready to be a father yet?

 

“Josh and I wanted different things,” he said, because it wasn’t lying. “Eventually all we ever did was argue about those things until I woke up one morning and everything he owned was gone along with him.” He picked at his own burger, his appetite suddenly disappearing as he talked about it. Josh still felt like an open wound, something that had yet to be treated. “After that I become really picky about dating. I didn’t want to be with someone else because I still loved Josh. It wasn’t until a few months ago that I realized that I couldn’t let someone dictate my happiness when they were no longer in my life. That’s when I threw myself into work and stayed there until Calum brought you up.”

 

Ashton gave him a smile and Luke’s sudden sad mood seemed to disappear at just the sight. He wasn’t sure what it was about Ashton Irwin that drew him in, but he was pretty sure that his smile had something to do with it.

 

After finishing up dinner, which mainly consisted of them laughing and talking about embarrassing things Calum and Michael had done, they started to head back towards the toy store. Luke found himself disappointed that the date was ending so soon, and most definitely wanted to continue this.

 

“Want to have a race back?” Ashton suddenly asked, and Luke chuckled before nodding. He had learned that Ashton was a total kid at heart, always wanting to have fun and be happy. Despite everything in his past, Ashton was sweet and appreciative of everything. Luke couldn’t help but admire that about him, adding to the list of things that really made Luke want to see him again.

 

“Does the winner get a prize?” Luke asked jokingly, getting ready to dart towards the toy store. While it wasn’t that far of a run, the sidewalk was practically deserted, leaving them with plenty of space for their make shift dash.

 

Ashton shrugged. “Whatever you want it to be I guess. You got something in mind?”

 

"How about a kiss for the winner?" Luke blurted, and now he was blushing furiously as Ashton just giggled. Luke felt his heart swell in his chest.

 

"I'll take it." Ashton replied. "On your mark, get set, go!" They were both off, dashing towards the toy store. Luke couldn’t help but laugh as they ran, probably looking like complete fools to anyone that happened to be watching the scene in front of them, two grown men running down the sidewalk laughing like maniacs. Luke didn’t care, far too happy to.

 

They eventually came to a stop, with Ashton throwing his hands up in victory as he hooted and hollered at the front of the store. “I, Ashton Fletcher Irwin, am the champion!” he declared with a loud voice and Luke laughed even more.

 

“Fletcher huh?” he asked breathlessly, the running take more out of him than he thought.

 

Ashton blushed. “Yeah.” He giggled again before re-gaining his composure. "So, it appears to me that I have won, and you know what that means.”

 

Luke crossed his arms. "Re-match?"

 

"Nope," Ashton replied, popping the 'p'. "I get a kiss.” Luke laughed before leaning forward and pecking Ashton’s cheek, not missing Ashton’s frustrated little huff afterwards. Luke smirked.

 

“You never specified where to kiss you.” Luke told him, grinning like a fool.

 

Ashton nodded in agreement and moved closer towards Luke, his breath hitting the other boy’s lips. “I was kind of hoping it was on the lips.” He confessed, placing a hand on Luke’s hip. His eyes continued to wander from Luke’s eyes to his lips, as if he was asking permission to kiss him properly. Luke found himself nodding, leaning closer. Ashton then closed the distance between them, pressing his lips to Luke’s in a soft and gentle kiss. Luke felt his eyes flutter shut as he put a hand to Ashton’s neck, pulling him closer so the kiss could deepen. This felt right, like their lips were meant to be pressed together like this.

 

The sudden ringing of a bell made them break apart and they turned towards the entrance of the toy shop to see Calum leaning against it, a smirk on his face. “I take it the date went well?”

 

Luke noticed Ashton blushing furiously, probably matching his own red face as they glanced at each other briefly, both of their mouths staying shut but their eyes saying everything and more. Calum gave them a small smile before tapping Luke’s shoulder, once again interrupting their moment.

 

“Right, I have to go,” he said, hurriedly pecking Ashton’s lips once again. “I’ll text you when I close?”

 

Ashton nodded, a smile slowly making its way onto his face. “I’ll be waiting for it.” He pulls Luke in for a proper kiss before pulling away and making his way towards his house, constantly looking back to see if Luke was watching him walk away.

 

He was.

 

*

 

Ashton was still on Cloud Nine when he went to go pick Lily up from Michael’s and it must have been obvious because when he walked through the front door Michael asked, “You got laid didn’t you?”

 

“No!” Ashton told him, though instead of swatting him he lightly hit his shoulder. He was in far too good of a mood to be really annoyed with Michael’s comment. “The date went perfectly that’s all.” He was probably smiling like a freaking loon but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He scooped Lily up from the couch and kisses her cheeks. “How was my little princess?”

 

“Good!” Lily chirped, wrapping her arms around Ashton’s neck. “Uncle Michael took me to the park and I got to go on the swings. Then we had lunch at Macca’s and came back here and played Go Fish!”

 

“That sounds fun!” Ashton told her, putting her back on the ground so she could gather her things. He walked over to Michael. “Thanks again for watching her.”

 

Michael waved a hand at him. “She’s my god daughter, I’ll do practically anything for that little munchkin.” He plops himself down onto the couch, motioning for Ashton to do the same. “Tell me about your date, I want to know how it went.”

 

“Where do I even begin?” Ashton sighed, sitting down on the couch with Michael as Lily snuggled into his side, jacket already on and ready to leave. “I took him to that diner downtown, the one with those amazing burgers? We talked, and then we had a race back to the store and he kissed me.” He felt his face heat up as he thought about the kiss, his lips still tingling from the feeling of Luke’s on his. “I really think I like him Mikey.”

 

“I’m glad,” Michael replied, patting his friend’s arm. “You deserve someone like Luke, he really is a good guy, and you have my approval.”

 

Ashton let out a gasp, putting a hand over his heart dramatically. “I have Michael Clifford’s stamp of approval on a guy? I never thought the day would come!” He felt his daughter giggling into his stomach and peered down at her, kissing her head. “What are you laughing at huh? You think papa is funny or something?”

 

Lily giggled. “Yeah!”

 

Ashton chuckled and picked his little girl up, getting them both up off the couch. “Alright, well I’ll see you later, I got to get this little munchkin home and ready for her sleepover tonight with her friends. Maybe you and Cal can come over and have a guy’s night?”

 

“I’ll have to ask Cal when he gets home but that sounds awesome,” Michael replied, waving goodbye to the two of them as they shut the front door and headed towards the car, Lily buckling up in the back seat as Ashton slid into the driver’s side. They were halfway home when Lily tapped her father’s shoulder.

 

“Were you on a date?” she asked, her tone giggly and happy, making Ashton laugh.

 

“Maybe,” Ashton said, looking in his mirror at his little girl. “Is that a bad thing?”

 

Lily shook her head. “No, maybe Santa is finally going to grant me my wish this year. That’s not a bad thing!”

 

Her words seemed to bring Ashton down into the reality of it all suddenly. He had only known Luke for two days, only just had their first date not even an hour before and here his daughter was with the hope that her Christmas wish was finally going to come true after all of these years. He didn’t even know where this relationship was going to go in time, and while he hoped it would end happily and that Luke really was the one he had been waiting for, he was still filled with a sense of dread that there was a possibility of it ending horribly and his daughter’s heart breaking along with his.

 

That was the very last thing he wanted, was to break his daughter’s heart.

 

*

 

After having dropped Lily off at her friend’s house for the sleepover, Ashton decided that he would start wrapping all of her presents and putting them under the yet to be decorated tree. He hadn’t had much time to really put up decorations this year with his job and Lily, but he hadn’t heard any complaints from the little girl. He had just finished wrapping the last present when his doorbell rang, signaling that Michael and Calum were finally here for their guys night.

 

“It’s open!” Ashton yelled, placing the gift under the tree with the rest of them as Michael and Calum stepped through the door with a twelve pack of beer and a couple of DVDs. What Ashton didn’t expect was a third person coming in behind them, one who had a beautiful smile and made Ashton’s heart flutter. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

 

Luke gave him a wide smile before motioning towards the beer. “Calum mentioned you guys were going to be doing a guy’s night and asked if I would like to come along and hang out. Plus, I really wanted to see you again.” He scratched the back of his neck nervously, a little tint of blush on his cheeks that made Ashton smile. “I hope that’s alright?”

 

“It’s perfect,” Ashton replied, walking up to Luke and kissing his nose. “As long as it’s alright with you that we cuddle during the movies, my usual cuddle buddy is off at a sleepover tonight.”

 

Luke laughed at that, leaning down and giving Ashton a proper kiss on the lips. “Well I can’t say I’m a better cuddle buddy than her but I can do my best.” He takes Ashton’s hand in his and they walk over to the couch, sitting down together before Ashton curled up into his side. Luke adjusted his arms so it was around Ashton’s waist, giving his hip a gentle squeeze. As Michael and Calum set up one of the first DVD’s, Luke frowned as he noticed the lack of decorations around the house. “Where is all your decorations huh? Christmas is in two weeks and your tree doesn’t even have anything on it!”

 

Ashton shrugged, looking up at Luke. “I haven’t had much time to decorate, been too busy with either Lily or my job,” He shifted up on the couch, almost sitting in Luke’s lap now as he looked the boy in the eyes. “You can help us decorate if you’d like? Right now isn’t a good time because Lily isn’t here, but if you have any free time you can come over at help out?”

 

“That actually sounds really nice,” Luke admitted, rubbing a hand up and down Ashton’s arm. “I don’t really have a Christmas tree in my apartment, it’s too small for one. I have one at the store but it’s not the same as having one in your own home, you know? I love decorating too, so it really sucks that I can’t have a Christmas tree of my own.”

 

“Well consider my Christmas tree your Christmas tree for the holidays,” Ashton told him, giving him a beautiful smile. “It’s the least I could do, with you helping me pay for Lily’s guitar and all.”

 

“I told you, that was just out of the goodness of my heart,” Luke told him, wrapping his arms around Ashton’s waist to fully have the boy in his lap. He rested their foreheads together and gazed into the sparkling hazel that Ashton’s eyes had, feeling himself falling more and more for Ashton.

 

Ashton couldn’t help but let his eyes wander, tracing every little detail of the beautiful blue that Luke’s eyes were. He couldn’t believe he was allowing himself to fall so hard for someone in just two days, but he was and while it was terrifying, it also felt exhilarating at the same time. He leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to Luke’s lips before looking up and Calum and Michael, who had started the movie and were now snuggled over on the other couch. He hadn’t even noticed that they were there, having been so consumed in Luke.

“Hey,” Luke whispered to him halfway through the movie, where Ashton had actually lost interest in the plot and was staring off into space. He turned to look at the boy. “I know we just had our first date today, but I was wondering if this could be considered a second date.”

 

Ashton pretended to think about it for a minute before giving Luke a smile. “I would love it to be our second date, even though Michael and Calum are here.” He looks over at the two, who were still snuggled together, though Michael had fallen asleep a few minutes ago and was now drooling on Calum’s chest. Calum must have noticed because he was now staring at the wet spot forming, but instead of pushing Michael off of him in disgust, he smiled fondly at the red haired boy and pressed a kiss to his head.

 

That was what Ashton wanted; someone that would fall asleep on him and even if they drooled all over him he would be so in love with them that it wouldn’t even be a bother. He wished he could have someone like Michael and Calum had each other.

 

Looking back at Luke, he wondered if that’s exactly what he wanted as well. Maybe if they were truly lucky, they could be that for each other.


	4. Revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this one, and it's the epilogue. I have had so much fun writing this story, and I promise that the final chapter should be up next week :)

“What about this?”

 

Ashton turned towards his boyfriend, who was currently holding up a large penguin plush toy. They were currently out Christmas shopping for Lily, Luke offering to tag along and help because he had wanted to spend more time with Ashton. He wasn’t going to turn that down, with only a week until Christmas he wanted to spend as much time with him as possible before his store got extremely crazy. It was nice being able to have Luke to himself, even if it were just two hours.

 

After their first date, their relationship had been going better than Ashton could have ever imagined. They were trying to take it slow at Ashton’s request, but Ashton was starting to find himself wanting to betray his own rules that he set in favor of fully giving himself to Luke. He knew it wasn’t normal to feel this way about someone after only a week of dating, but he found himself falling more and more in love with him every single day.

 

“Lily isn’t into stuffed animals anymore,” Ashton told him, watching Luke stick his bottom lip our in a pout. “Plus she’s more into turtles than she is penguins. Maybe we can find her a turtle?”

 

Luke shook his head. “I cannot believe your daughter doesn’t like penguins. That’s going to change, alright?” He put the stuffed penguin back on the shelf and continued to observe the other toys surrounding it, rubbing his chin in thought. “What other things does she like? Is she into any sports, princesses, Legos?”

 

Ashton thought it was adorable how into Lily’s presents Luke was. When he had offered Luke to come along on the little shopping trip he didn’t think he would be that into searching for presents for a little girl, but he ended up being more invested in the shopping than Ashton. He had already found a bunch of toys that Ashton knew Lily would love, and while Ashton had told Luke that he didn’t need to help with the purchasing of the presents, Luke just waved him off, insisting he was just making sure Lily had a wonderful Christmas.

 

Ashton knew there was one thing that would make Lily’s Christmas perfect, and he wasn’t sure how Luke was going to react to that.

 

Sure, everything was going perfect for them, but it had only been a week since they started dating. He wasn’t going to just say, “Hey, by the way, my daughter’s Christmas wish is to have another dad, would you like to be that for her?” While he wanted someone to fill that empty void, he wasn’t going to spring that on Luke just now. He knew with Christmas being just a week away that Lily probably wouldn’t be getting her Christmas wish, but it was worth it if in the end Luke did eventually stick around. Sure, it would be a Christmas gift, but maybe next Christmas there would be another stocking above the fire place just for Luke.

 

Ashton shook his head, fully aware of how wishful he was being, not to mention ridiculous. He knew better to be making these kinds of fantasies when he hadn’t known Luke for that long.

“She’s really gotten into dolls,” Ashton told him, leading him over to the aisle where all of the various dolls were lined up. “Do you sell any of those at your store or should I just get them here?”

 

“Well,” Luke started, picking a doll up from the shelf and showing it to Ashton. “This doll here you can get at my store, not to mention you can get it for a discount.”

 

Ashton quirked an eyebrow at that. “What discount are we talking? Think you can mark the price down from,” he looks at the price of the doll and chuckles. “Ten dollars?”

 

Luke nods. “Of course I can, but only for you.” He wraps his arms around Ashton’s waist then, looking at him with the beautiful blue eyes Ashton had grown to love deeply over the past week. “You see, I have this discount at my store called ‘The Boyfriend Discount’, but it only applies to really cute curly haired, hazel eyes boys named Ashton Irwin.”

 

“Well, that sounds like a pretty nice discount,” Ashton smiled, pressing a sweet kiss to Luke’s lips, not caring that they were currently standing in the middle of the doll aisle, wrapped up in each other. “Good thing I fit the description, because how disappointing would that be if I didn’t?”

 

Luke giggled back at him, kissing him again before taking Ashton’s hand and leading them towards the check out. As they carried their bags out to Luke’s car, Ashton couldn’t help but notice a large penguin plush sticking out of one of the bags. He looked over at the passenger side, noticing Luke’s completely innocent smile as they headed towards Luke’s toy store, their hands intertwined the entire driver there.

 

*

 

When they arrived at the toy store, both of them were laughing like crazy, hands still clasped together as they entered the store. Calum looked up from the register he was currently working at, and while Luke was expecting his friend to be relieved that the two of them were back so he wasn’t working alone, the look of relief was actually panic.

 

“What are you guys doing here?” Calum rushed out, leaving the register and walking towards them, his hands pushing their chests so they could walk backwards out the door. Ashton quirked an eyebrow at their friend’s strange behavior before shoving Calum’s hand off of him.

 

“This is my store,” Luke told him, just as confused as Ashton. “Why are you acting so jumpy Cal? Did something happen that you don’t want me to see?”

 

Calum’s face kept the panic as Luke continued to walk into the store, observing the customers to see what Calum was so panicked about. This wouldn’t be the first time Calum acting paranoid about something when he was left alone at the store. The last time he left Calum to man the shop alone when he went to do something himself he came back to find that the store had been closed down early so Calum could have sex with Michael in the back room. Luke had refused to go to the back room for a week until Calum cleaned it himself.

 

It was then that he noticed the person who was standing at the register.

 

His heart stopped, the sight of the person making his eyes widen and his body freeze. The person before him had dark hair underneath a snapback, a black sweater covering his body and ripped up jeans. He had a look of surprise as well, but it was replaced by what Ashton could only place as happiness.

 

“Luke,” the person said, moving forward and moving his hand towards Luke’s face. Luke took a step back before the hand could even touch his face, Ashton deciding to take a step forward and move an arm around his boyfriend’s waist in a protective stance. The person moved his hand back. “I was hoping by coming here I would see you.”

 

“Well, you saw me,” Luke’s words were harsh and full of venom, something Ashton had never seen before. Luke was usually sweet and never spoke with malice. Whoever this person was obviously did something to his boyfriend and Ashton found himself starting to take a disliking to whoever he was. “You should leave now, I have no desire to do anything with you.”

 

The person bit his lip. “I figured as much. It was worth a shot though,” he stuck his hands in his pockets before heading towards the doors, only turning back to face Ashton instead of Luke. “I hope you know that Luke isn’t one for having the lifestyle you dream of. He’ll act like it, really show a genuine interest in a future that you dream of, but in the end he’ll only treat you like dirt. Figured I should warn you before whatever it is you two have goes any further.” He then leaves the store, Ashton not sure how to take the stranger’s words. He looks up at Luke, whose face is tight and his lips in a tight line.

 

“Who was that Luke?” Ashton asked him, still trying to sort through what was said to him. How would someone know Luke like that? It was as if the person was describing a complete stranger to him, not Luke.

 

Luke released his hold on Ashton, instead looking towards Calum, as if Ashton hadn’t even said anything to him. “Thanks for trying to protect me, I understand why you were acting weird now.” He looks uncomfortable now and Ashton just wants to know _why._

 

“Luke,” Ashton pushes again, not understanding why his boyfriend won’t even look at him now. “I need you to look at me and answer my question: Who was that?”

 

“Josh,” Luke answers him, running a hand through his hair. He noticed how Ashton’s expression softened at the name, knowing exactly why Luke was now frazzled about the sudden reappearance of his ex. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen him, I can’t believe he had the nerve to come back here and try to talk things through.” He glanced over at Calum, who was giving him a knowing glance and Luke knew that he and Calum needed to talk about it. Luke sighed, placing a soft kiss on Ashton’s forehead. “Thank you for today, I really hope Lily loves all the presents we got her.”

 

“She will,” Ashton replied, giving Luke a kiss on the lips. “I think the penguin is what she will love the most.” He laughs, the laugh that made Luke’s heart soar, before he kisses him one last time and exits, Luke feeling even guiltier as he watched his boyfriend leave. He turns towards Calum with an idea of exactly what they are going to be talking about.

 

“I see you haven’t told him yet,” Calum chastised, following Luke toward the break room with his arms folded. “I understand the two of you are in this beautiful and wonderful honeymoon phase and that you don’t want to ruin it, but the longer you keep this from him the more it’s going to kill him when he finds out the truth Luke.”

 

Luke sighs, taking his name tag off of the stand he set it on and pins it to his shirt. He still doesn’t face Calum. “I know it’s going to kill him, but I’m hoping that I won’t ever have to tell him.”

 

Calum scoffs. “You can’t be serious Luke. You don’t think he’s going to be confused when you to eventually get engaged along the line, and when that moment comes you decide to drop on him that ‘Hey, I don’t want to be a father to a little girl just yet, sorry about not saying anything earlier?’ That would make you an asshole Luke.” He grabs Luke’s shoulder, spinning him around harsher than intended. It makes Luke wobble a little and he’s about to yell at Calum when he notices that his friend’s expression is more of a concerned one than the angry one that had been displayed before. “I don’t want either one of you getting hurt because of this. You may be my best friend, but so is Ashton, and I’m not going to lose you two just because you couldn’t tell him how you really feel about Lily.” He then marches out of the break room and towards the register again, leaving Luke to gather his thoughts and really decide exactly what it was that he wanted.

 

He really likes Ashton, he knows that. Ashton has made him feel so many things that Josh never had, and in just a short week the two of them had become so close that Luke found himself wondering what he had been doing with his life before he met Ashton.  It was a feeling of want and love, something Luke hadn’t felt in so long.

 

He didn’t want to be hurt by his own actions again, he couldn’t.

 

Pushing the problem aside for that moment, he walked out of the break room and towards the front entrance to greet customers. Despite the attempt to distract himself from the issue, every single time he saw a little girl walk into the store, all he saw was Lily.

 

*

 

Luke felt like he was being judged.

 

He was currently sitting in Ashton’s living room, Ashton in the kitchen cooking up some dinner for the night while Lily sat on the floor by the Christmas tree, observing Luke with her bright hazel eyes filled with curiosity and wonder. She had been like that since Luke arrived and Ashton had sat him down, promising that his daughter didn’t bite.

 

Luke looked down at Lily, noticing a small necklace around her neck with a charm that Luke hadn’t noticed before. Attempting to make conversation with the little girl, not to mention to get her to at least stop staring, he pointed at the necklace. “What’s the charm?”

 

Lily reached up and touched the small charm, holding it up a little more so Luke could see it. “It’s a drum, my papa said he got it for me when I was born.” Luke shuffles himself off the couch and sits down cross-legged across from Lily, reaching out and touching the necklace to observe it more. The charm was indeed a small drum, tiny little drumsticks resting on the top. “I’ve never taken this necklace off.”

 

Luke quirks an eyebrow at that. “Not even when you shower?”

 

Lily shakes her head, dirty blonde curls bouncing as she does so. “Nope, I leave it on because it makes papa smile when he sees me wear it. It’s my favorite thing in the world aside from him.” She says it so nonchalantly, as if Luke should have known this already. It warms his heart to see this little girl talk so fondly about her father, the adoration in her eyes and she rambles on about how one day that had gone to the beach and made sand castles and he made her a mermaid tail.

 

 It was then when Ashton walked into the room to announce dinner, but stopped himself. He leaned against the doorframe and watched as his daughter talked animatedly with Luke, noticing how comfortable she was around his boyfriend. Lily had never been that much of a shy person, like her father in that way. He lightly knocked against the doorframe to catch their attention, both of them turning to him with smiles on their faces.

 

“Dinner’s ready,” Ashton told them, pushing himself up off the doorframe to enter the room. He ruffled Lily’s hair. “Go get washed up squirt, I’m going to talk to Luke for a little bit alright?” Lily nodded before darting off towards the bathroom to go wash her hands. The minute she was out of sight Ashton wrapped his arms around Luke’s waist and pressed his lips against Luke’s. “What were you two talking about that got her all amped up?”

 

“You,” Luke replies, chasing Ashton’s lips again. They stayed that way, interlocked and kissing, until Lily came walking into the room, making both of them spring apart with their cheeks red and pants coming out of their mouths.

 

“Can Luke sit by me?” was all Lily said, tugging on Luke’s hand to lead him towards the dining room table before her father could even respond to her question. Luke chuckled and followed the little girl as Ashton trailed behind them, a small smile on his lips at the scene. It felt so perfect, as if they already were a family.

It made Ashton wonder what it would be like to be an actual family, just the three of them.

 

After dinner had been cleared away and Lily had been put into her pajamas, all three of them sat in front of the small fireplace Ashton had started up, cuddled together. Lily sat in Luke’s lap, obviously exhausted from the day and drifting off to sleep. Ashton had an arm around the two of them, tracing delicate circles on Luke’s arm as he watched his daughter’s eye lids droop.

 

“Tonight was perfect,” Luke blurted, his thoughts tumbling out of his mouth before he could contain them. “Dinner was amazing, I got to spend it with you and Lily….” He seemed to trail off, turning to face Ashton and stare into his eyes. “I don’t think I have ever been this content before.”

 

Ashton laughs softly. “I’m glad I make you feel safe and secure.” He kisses Luke’s nose. “Why don’t we get Lily off to bed? It’s getting late and she had quite a long day.” Luke nods, going to move the little girl so she was resting against his chest. He puts an arm under her for support, following Ashton towards her room and places her in bed. Ashton puts a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back, stay here with her real quick?” Luke nods and Ashton kisses him gently before leaving the room.

 

Luke hears Lily whisper something softly, and he has to crouch down to even hear what she had said. “What was that sweetie?”

 

“I love you daddy.” She whispers softly and Luke smiles at that.

 

“Daddy isn’t in the room right now, but I’ll make sure to tell him you said that.” He responds and he notices Lily shaking her head slightly before hearing another soft whisper, one that makes his throat lock up and his body go tense.

 

“I meant you daddy.” She says sleepily.

 

It broke his heart, knowing that the very thing Lily believed he was he couldn’t be. The soft smile on her face from saying those words made him regret ever agreeing to going out with Ashton, knowing that once he did he would be swept up into his life of a single dad. Luke felt at war with himself, torn between what he thought was true: he didn’t want to be a father. Staring at Lily though, fast asleep now and curled up in her bed, Luke felt himself wanting to try and be that for her, to be there for her.

 

“Love you too Lily,” he finally responded, though he wasn’t sure if Lily heard him or not. He got up from his position by her bed and turned towards the door, where Ashton was standing there, a phone in his hand. The screen was illuminated and before Luke could say a word he noticed who Ashton was on the phone with.

 

 

“I hate you,” Ashton spoke, his voice quivering and tears slowly rolling down his cheeks. “You knew what you were getting into when you met me, when you gave me your number that night at the Christmas party. You knew exactly what was going to happen when you came into my life.” He held up his phone. “I had to have fucking Calum call me to tell me what you were too cowardly to say.”

 

Luke swallowed. This was the complete opposite of how he wanted to breach the subject.  He never wanted to make Ashton cry, had never wanted for him to find out this way. He felt tears pricking in his own eyes as he opened his mouth to speak.

 

“I was going to tell you Ash,” he promised. “I was going to tell you, but I wasn’t sure how. I’m a shitty person, for leading you on with the belief that I wanted to be Lily’s other dad, and I should have told you the truth from the beginning but I was so scared. I was scared because, I-“

 

Ashton shook his head. “Don’t you dare say what you are thinking. Once you say those words you’ve officially fucked up.”

 

Luke sighed, pushing the thought back. “I can’t be what you need Ashton. You need someone who can be a good father for Lily, someone who is perfect for your family.”

 

The anger that had been on Ashton’s face had suddenly dispersed, still lingering but overpowered by confusion. “You are perfect for our family Luke. These past two weeks you have given a perfect example of how wonderful you are and how much you fit into this family.”

 

“I’ve confused you then,” Luke admits with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’m sorry, I guess you were just too tempting that I had to keep pushing myself to believe that this is what I wanted, that I wanted to be a father when I’m honestly unprepared. It’s what broke up Josh and I, and it’s going to continue to be my downfall for the rest of my life.”

 

“It doesn’t have to be,” and Ashton is so much closer now, so close that Luke could feel his breath on his lips. “If I’m so tempting Luke, why don’t you just give in?” Ashton reached up, his thumb flicking away the tears that had started to drip from Luke’s eyes. “I’m madder that you lied to me than you not wanting to be a father yet Luke. Please don’t cry because if you cry and I’m going to cry harder and both of us will just look foolish.”

 

Luke let out a laugh, it being choked a little by his crying. “I’m a mess, a complete mess.”

 

“So am I,” Ashton admits, his hands reaching up to cup Luke’s face. “We can be a complete mess together.” He kisses Luke then, letting his mouth linger until Luke began to chase after his lips, craving more of the taste of Ashton. Ashton lifted his head, letting his hands fall from Luke’s face. “My past two relationships ended because they didn’t want to be there for Lily, I can’t lose another person I care about because they don’t want to be here for my daughter.”

 

Luke wasn’t sure what finally did it for him, it must have been sometime during the night that he realized that he had made a new choice for himself and how he wanted his life to go. It took Ashton to make him realize it.

 

“I want to be here for her,” he whispered, Ashton raising his head from where he had been staring down at the ground to meet Luke’s beautiful blue eyes. “I want to be what she needs, I want to be the very thing you need. I’m willing to be all of that, and it took the very thought of losing you to make me see the light.”

 

Ashton suddenly had him in a tight embrace, lips pressed to his in a heated kiss. Hands moved across areas, trying to touch every surface they could as they moved against each other in the hallway. With Ashton’s lips pressed to his neck, Luke struggled to find his voice as the pleasure with took him. “B-Bedroom. Where is your bedroom?”

 

Ashton looked at him with such love and lust as he untangled himself from Luke, grabbing the boy’s hand and leading him towards a bedroom at the end of the hallway. He swiftly closed the door behind them, placing the lock in place before turning back to Luke and backing him up against the door. “Is this what you want?”

 

Before he lost all the confidence he had from earlier, Luke’s hands found the hem of Ashton’s shirt and tugged it off, flinging it across the room before he tugged off his own shirt. Pretty soon there was a mess of clothes near the doorway, Luke laying back on the bed with Ashton pressing kisses to every inch of skin he could. Luke found himself to be a withering mess underneath Ashton’s touch, the heat coursing through him almost unbearable.

 

Ashton looked down at him, hazel locking with blue. “Is this what you want?”

 

Panting, Luke gave him a nod. “I want you.”

 

Ashton gave him the most beautiful smile Luke had ever seen. “You have me.”


	5. Wish Come True

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the end of A Dad For Christmas. Thanks to every single one of you that stuck around and read this little story, it means the absolute world to me that you would take the time to do that. I really hope you enjoyed this :)

_Christmas Eve, one year later_

 

“I get to at least open one of my presents, right?” Lily asked Luke, who was currently searching around the house for his currently missing cell phone. They were _supposed_ to be on their way to Luke’s parent’s house for Christmas dinner, but as of lately their household had become quite chaotic.

 

If you asked Luke though, he wouldn’t have changed a single thing.

 

The past year had been filled with many wonderful memories he wouldn’t trade for the world. Last Christmas had been one of the greatest times of his life, filled with so much love and cheer. He’d finally let go of his fear of having a child, and every single time he looked at Lily and her adorable smile he found himself wondering what he feared in the first place. The little girl was a blessing in disguise.

 

And then there was Ashton, someone Luke loved with all of his heart. It still amazed him that just a year ago he was going to a Christmas party and meeting him for the first time, and now it’s a year later, and they are the happiest couple. Every single time Ashton came in through the front door Luke felt his heart beat a little faster, still felt the fluttering feeling in his chest when Ashton kissed him, and felt his entire body burst with so much love for the boy with every ‘I love you’ whispered to him when they made love.

 

It was all still amazing.

 

“Did daddy tell you that?” Luke asked the little girl, suddenly noticing that she was missing a shoe. “Munchkin, what did you do with your other shoe?”

 

Lily shrugged. “I’ve been looking everywhere for it, I think I might have dropped it in the toilet?”

 

Luke sighed, picking the little girl up and resting her on his hip as they headed towards the bathroom, where indeed, a little black shoe was floating at the top. “I’m not even going to ask you why that is there, instead we are going to take it out before daddy sees it and dry it off. While I do that, go change into another pair of shoes alright?” He set Lily down and she took off towards her room, Luke groaning as he fished the shoe out of the toilet bowl and set it on one of the towels to dry it off.

 

“Are you fixing your hair again?” he heard Ashton’s voice chuckle from the doorway, and he turned to see his boyfriend leaning against the door frame, an amused smile on his face. “It looks perfect babe, it always does.” He walks into the bathroom and wraps his arms around the boy, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Plus it’s not like you need to impress your parents, they love you no matter how you look. If anyone should be worried about impressions it should be me.”

 

Luke laughed, wrapping the towel around the shoe so Ashton didn’t see and start asking questions. “And why should you be worried, do you know something I don’t Irwin?”

Ashton hums. “Maybe.” He pulls his hand back and pulls something out of his pocket, handing it to Luke. “Your phone was in our bedroom, on the nightstand. I’m not surprised you didn’t check there.” He kisses Luke’s cheek again before leaving the bathroom, heading towards Lily’s room. “You ready to go Princess?”

 

“Yup!” Lily called out, running out of her room with brand new shoes on. “Do I get to open a present tonight like you said?”

 

“I never said anything about that!” Ashton dramatically gasped, before sending his daughter a wink. “Did papa tell you that you couldn’t?”

 

That was another thing that made Luke jump for joy: He was Lily’s papa, Ashton was daddy. While Lily had gone through most of her life calling Ashton papa, it was decided when Luke moved in that she would now call him papa instead, Luke not really liking the sound of Daddy Luke, despite how cute it was when Lily said it.

 

“I just asked her if you had told her she could,” Luke defended, turning off the bathroom light and following his family out towards the living room to grad their jackets. “I have no problem with her opening ONE of her presents tonight before Santa comes. She’s been an awfully good girl this year, I think she’s earned it.”

 

Lily began to cheer and Ashton laughed at his daughter’s happiness. “Not until we get back from Grandma and Grandpa’s alright? As soon as we get home from there you can open a gift.” Lily nodded and opened the door, running out to the car as her two fathers followed from behind, smiling at the little girl’s joy over Christmas.

 

*

 

Dinner flew by in a rush and before the two of them knew it they were now sitting around the Christmas tree in Luke’s parent’s house, laughing as they sipped mugs of egg nog and watched as Lily played with one of the toys Liz let her open. It was a small electronic train set, one that they had set up to go around the Christmas tree, and Lily was practically in love with it, chasing after the train with such glee.

 

Ashton smiled at his daughter as he tightened his arm around Luke, who was currently cuddled into him on the loveseat in the living room. He couldn’t believe how his life had changed so much in a year, going from being a lonely single father, desperate for someone to complete his family to a happy, committed person. Luke made him so much happier than Caleb or Lily’s mother ever did.

 

He heard a soft yawn and looked down at his boyfriend. “You tired?” Luke nodded, starting to get up. “It is getting pretty late, do you want to head home, get Lily in bed?”

 

“It’s for the best,” Luke replied, another yawn rising from his throat. “Princess you want to get ready to go, say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa?” The little girl gave him a pout, stopping her chase for the train before walking over to Liz and Andrew, hugging them tightly. It warmed Luke’s heart to see the sight of his parents and his daughter together, considering just a year ago he had told his parents that they wouldn’t be getting any grandkids anytime soon.

 

What a lie that had been.

 

“Ashton,” Liz spoke up as Luke and Lily headed towards the car, Ashton telling them he would be out there soon as he walked back into the living room. “Are you going to do it tonight?” She had a look of absolute glee on her face, making Ashton’s nervousness of being reminded of the thing fade a little.

 

“Should I?” he asked, fiddling with his fingers. “I was thinking maybe tomorrow, when Lily is opening her presents? Or maybe when we come here tomorrow I could do it….”

 

“I say you do it tonight,” Liz chirped, placing a comforting hand on Ashton’s shoulder. “Either way, there is no need to be nervous. I’ve never seen Luke love someone as much as he loves you. He’s going to say yes.”

 

Ashton gave her a smile before nodding his head. “Thank you Liz, I think I’m going to do it tonight.” He gave her and Andrew one last hug before heading towards the doorway. “I’ll see you two tomorrow, noon I presume?”

 

“Noon,” Andrew confirmed. “Now go put a ring on my son’s finger, and don’t bother showing your face tomorrow if you chickened out! Pretty sure Jack and Ben will get on you for that before I could get to you.” He was joking, Ashton knew that, but he also knew that Luke’s older brothers would definitely kick his ass if he didn’t finally suck it up and propose to his boyfriend of a year.

 

He had been planning this since Halloween, around the time Lily began to create her Christmas list early again, and number one on the list was, of course, for another dad. While she had grown accustomed to calling Luke papa, she insisted that Luke wasn’t really her papa until they got married. Ashton thought it was adorable.

 

After Lily opened her one Christmas gift they had promised her, (another stuffed penguin, resulting in Ashton smacking Luke over the head because that was one thing she really did not need) they had taken her off to bed, promising they would leave cookies and milk for Santa.

 

“What about carrots?” Lily had asked as she pulled the covers up over her in bed. “Santa’s reindeer need a snack as well, and I’m pretty sure that they don’t get any treats like Santa does.”

 

Ashton chuckled and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “I promise we will get carrots set out for the reindeer, but if you don’t go to bed right now Santa won’t show up at all.” He winked at the little girl before heading off towards bed, the little girl closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

 

“She in bed?” Luke asked as Ashton came out to the living room, where Luke was currently drinking the milk they had set out and dipping the cookie into it. Ashton nodded, taking the cookie and milk out of Luke’s hands and straddling his boyfriend, pressing a long kiss to his lips. Luke kissed back with as much enthusiasm, resting his hands on Ashton’s hips as they lazily made out on the couch, the only sounds in the room were from their lips moving together and the small whir of one of the animated ornaments on the tree. Just as Luke began to slip his hand underneath Ashton’s pants the boy pulled away, making Luke whine.

 

“I promised your mother I would do this tonight,” he began, getting off of Luke and heading towards the Christmas tree, plucking one of the smaller gifts from underneath it and holding it out for Luke. “Merry Christmas Lukey.”

 

Luke gave him a quizzical look before tearing away the wrapping paper, his eyes widening when he was the small box that had been hidden underneath it. “Ash…”

 

“I remember when we were first dating, you told me that your toy shop held magic inside of it. You saw it in the eyes of all the customers that came in as they marveled over the toys, you felt it when you put together the doll houses and rocking horses. When I fell for you, the only way I could describe the feeling was that it was magical. You brought so much magic and love into my life that I could never repay you for, but I’m hoping that you promising to spend the rest of your life with me is a start.” He gently takes the box from Luke’s hands, popping it open to reveal a beautiful, white gold band. “I love you Luke Hemmings, and you didn’t just change my life, you changed my daughter’s as well. Every single year for Christmas, she always asked Santa for another father, someone to make me happy. If you want, you can be the very thing she’s been asking for. Will you marry me?”

 

Luke had known from the moment he had met Ashton that this boy was going to change it his life. He was the first person to make him feel safe since Josh had left, the first person he could really let loose with and feel special again. Ashton had changed his views on children, and he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t want to spend every waking moment for the rest of his life with someone as beautiful and loving as the man in front of him.

 

So he took the band out of the box, sliding it on his finger with a small ‘yes’, before reaching forward and pressing a kiss to Ashton’s lips. He felt Ashton’s smile against his as they continued to kiss each other, promises within each little peck that this is what they wanted, to be together for the rest of their lives.

 

From the corner of Luke’s eye, he noticed a small piece of paper resting by the milk and cookies he must have overlooked when he had been snacking on them. “What’s this?” Luke asked, picking the piece of paper up and opening it to see what it was. It was written in crayon, obviously Lily’s handwriting.

 

_Dear Santa,_

_Thank you for making my wish come true. Luke is perfect._

_Love, Lily Irwin_

“You really are,” Ashton whispered before pressing his lips against Luke’s again, know that not only did Lily get her Christmas wish, but he got his as well.

 

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on tumblr at lucasashtons :)


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